Cream Puffs and Chaos
by millenniumthief
Summary: Valentine's Day is always full of love and heartbreak. How will Bakura handle the holiday he's never really been fond of? One-shot.


Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh! or make profit from writing this story.

Cream Puffs and Chaos

Tension ran high in the air around Domino High School. This day was the most important day since the new year began. It wasn't yet time for exams, and most classes had put off tests for the time being, because the teachers just knew…there was no possible way to counteract the effects of sugar and love in their students. Valentine's Day was just one of those days where rational thought flew out the window and everyone gave into their cravings, both for candy and companionship.

Only one student remained outside until the last possible minute, trying his hardest to stay out of the way of the chaos. Finally he could wait no longer, and he brushed his white hair out of his eyes before entering the building. Silently, he counted down the seconds until he was noticed.

_Five…_

He had barely made it inside and already the noise was deafening. People were milling about, exchanging their presents. One second down…

_Four…_

Even some of the teachers had decorated, white, red, and pink hearts adorning the classrooms. As if public humiliation and torture were things to celebrate.

_Three…_

Turning to his right, Bakura navigated the short way to his locker, struggling against the throng of students in the hallway. Why couldn't they get out of the way if they were going to be sentimental?

_Two…_

Bakura managed to reach his locker, surprisingly not tripping over someone along the way. He knelt down to grab the materials he needed and closed the door.

_One…_

Gripping his physics book, he tried to quickly escape into the classroom right beside him. Thankfully it was his first class, and he was right on time. He just had to take one more step.

_Zero._

"Bakura-kun! You made it!"

What a shame he was right about the seconds as well…The poor boy's shoulders immediately drooped. He had almost made it inside; if only he had been one second faster. But luck was not on his side, and he turned around slowly to see Miho standing behind him, blushing even more deeply than he was. "Yes, Miho. I can't afford to miss any of my classes," he said politely, smiling kindly at her.

"Miho was hoping she could see you. I have something for you…" she said, glancing up shyly. From behind her back, she pulled out a package which was surprisingly very plainly wrapped. "I know you don't like to make a big occasion out of anything…" she explained at the shocked look.

Bakura really was taken aback at the kind gesture by the girl who usually tried to get his attention any way she could. "Thank you very much, Miho. That…does mean a lot to me," he replied just as timidly as she had a moment before. He slid his finger underneath one of the flaps that was taped down, peeking in just far enough to see a plastic container, and inside the clear plastic was…

"Cream puffs!" Bakura yelped out delightedly before clapping a hand over his mouth.

"Do you like them?" Miho asked worriedly. She nervously rubbed her hands together while awaiting his answer.

This time, Bakura flashed a genuine smile. "Cream puffs are my favorite food. I can't wait to try one, but-" His explanation was cut off by the ringing of the school bell. A surprised look crossed Miho's face and she quickly turned and ran down the hall to the class she was surely going to be late for.

The white-haired boy turned and walked into his classroom, expecting it to be bad, but he was far from prepared for what greeted him when he got to his desk.

Valentines of every shape and size littered his desk, some boxes, some just cards. The pink, red, and purple mass glared up at him as though taunting him. Bakura bit back a groan. Tentatively, he reached down and picked one up, looking startled as the girl behind him squeaked. So much for it being anonymous, he thought wryly as he realized it wasn't signed.

However, as usual he just gave his polite smile, causing the girl to glow bright red. Quickly sifting through the rest, he noticed the only sweets on the desk were chocolates. Not that he minded chocolate, but it was such an ordinary gift, something common to give potential sweethearts.

Finally glancing up to see the teacher glaring pointedly at him, he scooped the cards into a pile to stash them and stacking the boxes up on a corner of his desk. The teacher had already started talking about how to determine the trajectory of a projectile fired at a certain angle, but Bakura found his mind wandering. He really wanted to try one of those cream puffs…the thought wouldn't leave him alone. But, he would have to wait until lunch to find out how they tasted.

After an eternity, the bell finally rang, and Bakura was forced to take two trips to his locker, one for the chocolates and the other to get to the next class. He ended up sprinting to calculus, panting and out of breath when he took his seat. Only one modest card sat upon his desk, from the one girl who hadn't already had class with him. Almost all of the students in his first two subjects were the same.

Flicking quickly through the generic card, which was a nice gesture none-the-less, he again flashed a small grin to the girl and turned his attention up front.

The next two classes dragged on as slowly as the first two, and after that was homeroom, in which Bakura caught up with Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Yugi on the events of the day.

"I've been hearin' rumors about ya, Bakura. Any truth to 'em?" Joey asked before the class had even begun.

Bakura chose to stay in his shy and blissfully ignorant mood for just a while longer. "What rumors would those be, Joey?"

Joey grinned a little before replying back, "The ones that say your entire desk was covered in Valentines before ya even got there this morning." Bakura's light flush answered his inquiry even if he had decided not to say anything.

"Yes, there were quite a few there…but…" Bakura trailed off, glancing down hesitantly.

Tristan chose to join the conversation at this point. "But what, man? Don't leave us hanging. I'd be thrilled to get as many cards as you…especially from a certain someone," he finished quietly, leaning toward the white-haired boy as he did.

His attempts to prevent Joey from overhearing failed as the other snapped, "Ya better not be talkin' about my sister, Tristan."

Bakura, sensing danger, quickly intervened. "But, it's really nothing special. All these girls claim to fancy me just because they think I'm…_cute_. Yet, they hardly know me at all. Not like you guys do…"

"Well, you never really gave them the chance to know you, Bakura. You were trying to keep your…trying to keep them from danger," Yugi objected.

Even though Yugi had stopped himself, Bakura picked up on what he was going to say. He was trying to keep his yami away from anybody he could possibly harm. Now, the spirits of the Millennium Items had left, but Bakura still instinctively shied away from any new contact with anybody.

"Yes…you have a point. I'm still not comfortable around others yet. It's just who I am…" he said uneasily. "Anyway, we can sort that out later. How did you fare, Yugi?"

At the sudden flare of color to Yugi's cheeks, he obviously hadn't been expecting the conversation to turn to him. Also, by the glare Téa had given the unsuspecting boy, Bakura guessed he must have gotten quite a haul.

"Um, heh. I guess you could say I did well, too. Seems I have just as many fans as I did a couple years ago," he answered carefully.

Téa bristled a little at the casual tone. "They just like you for the same reason they like Bakura. You're cu-I mean, they think you're cute!" she covered quickly. "They don't know you as well as we do, either."

Joey and Tristan gave each other knowing grins and tried to suppress the snickers threatening to break loose. Joey, however, refused to keep his mouth shut. "Protective much, Téa? No need ta get defensive over him," he joked.

The air in the room became downright chilly as the girl in the group turned to him, giving him as close to a death glare as was possible. Yugi, seeing this, interrupted another argument in the making. "Guys, guys, don't fight! Please? It's supposed to be a happy day!"

"Yeah, dat's right. I just can't wait ta tear inta some of the candy I got, too!" Joey exclaimed. He pulled a whole box of chocolate out of his book bag. "Looks like I got a secret admirer!" he said happily.

Quickly tearing off the ribbon off of the box, he gaped as he looked inside to find it empty save for a note. "Chocolate is bad for dogs," it claimed.

Joey felt anger like never before at the mocking note and sprung up. "KAIBA! Dat arrogant jerk! Where is he?! I outta-!" Tristan pulled him back down, clapping a hand over his mouth.

"Joey, calm down, man. Just leave it. He's not here anyway. He probably put it in your locker before he left yesterday."

"Happy day, Joey," Yugi chipped in.

Shaking his head to get Tristan off, Joey growled. "Fine, but Rich Boy's got it comin' to him." Everyone else started laughing as he slumped back down into his chair with a huff.

The conversation kept up until the bell for lunch. Students scattered every which direction, Bakura heading back to his locker to get the container of cream puffs that had been calling to him since he'd seen them. Going to the cafeteria, he sat down in the usual place they all met up in, Joey already chowing down on the holiday cookies baked by the lunch ladies.

"Where'd ya get da cream puffs, Bakura?" he asked in between mouthfuls.

"Ah, Miho gave them to me," he answered, smiling and happily biting into one. "Mmm!" he mumbled. "They're good!"

Téa looked at him with a strange, almost sad expression in her eyes. "You didn't say anything mean to her, did you?"

Bakura appeared startled at the question. "Of course not! I would never say anything bad to or about her. Why do you ask?"

"Well, for Yugi's 'happy day,' she seems anything but," she said, motioning to a corner table where Miho sat silently crying. "Did something happen?"

"I-I don't know. Perhaps you should go ask her?" he said uncomfortably. He tried his hardest not to draw himself into the situation.

Téa, however, obviously had other ideas for him. "You know it's not me she would want to talk to, Bakura. I'm sure if you went over there, she'd cheer right up!"

Bakura groaned a little. "But, Téa, you know I…" he started to object. She continued staring at him until he relented. "Oh, very well. I'll try my best to stop her from crying."

Picking a path through the cafeteria, he glanced back once to see everyone else staring at him in fascination at what he was going to do. He almost lost his nerve, a ball of worry settling in the pit of his stomach, but his feet continued moving. Bakura almost felt like he was moving in slow motion.

Finally arriving at her table, Bakura sat down next to her. She didn't appear to notice at first. "M-Miho? Are you feeling alright?" he asked kindly.

She gave a start after hearing his voice, but only turned away from him further.

"Um…I-I tried one of your cream puffs. They're really good!" he attempted. This time she stiffened and looked back briefly.

"Really? But…you got so many other Valentine's. Miho's shouldn't be any more special. At least that's what they said…" she said grudgingly, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Who said that?"

"The other girls. And they're right."

Bakura couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew girls could be cruel to each other, but to know that such a thing as Valentine's Day could turn them against each other was ridiculous. And it was all because of him this time.

"Miho, you shouldn't listen to what other people say. Your gift was by far the most thoughtful one I received. You're the one who was with me during Monster World, not them. And as I've already said, your desserts were delicious! What you've done far outranks what they came up with: candy and cards. You know me better than they do, and your opinion is much more important to me," he finished with a small smile, even though his cheeks had turned bright red.

"Bakura-kun, you really mean that?" she asked sadly. She started grinning at his slight, embarrassed nod. "Thank you…"

Bakura glanced away briefly before answering, "It was nothing, Miho…" He had to stop himself from falling backwards as she tackled him for a hug.

With a slight laugh, an apology, and another "Thank you!" Miho bounded off in a much better mood than she had been in previously, leaving Bakura to return to the others again.

Téa couldn't stop herself from grinning as he sat back down. "That worked out well, Bakura," she said.

"I hope I never have to do that again…" he said truthfully. He didn't like dealing with tears and sadness. Before another conversation could start, he politely excused himself from the table and went to the stash of candy in his book bag. Searching through them to find an anonymous box, he quickly dashed off to Joey's locker.

He knew it was wrong to regift the candy, and that it might inflate Joey's head even more than it already was, but he slipped the box into Joey's backpack and closed the door. As he was about to leave, he noticed Serenity across the hall with two chocolate hearts.

"Hello, Bakura!" she said happily. "I was just giving Duke and Tristan their presents! Please don't tell my big brother. If you did, they would be in so much trouble!"

Bakura shared a conspiratorial look with the younger of the two Wheelers. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of doing that. Although…I'm certain that Tristan will brag to Duke, or the other way around, and Joey will find out anyway. But good luck keeping it a secret until then!"

Serenity giggled. "Thanks. I won't tell Joey that you put that in his locker either. Happy Valentine's Day, Bakura!"

"Yes, happy Valentine's Day, Serenity," he replied, actually in a fairly good mood considering what he'd been through over the course of four hours.

The bell rang, then, sending him scrambling to Advanced Biology, where they were once again covering mitosis and meiosis, effectively diverting his attention from anything else. However, once again, the classes dragged and he was more than willing enough to head for his apartment after all was said and done.

At last, school was over, and Bakura went to gather the materials he would need for the homework he had been given. He was surprised to find Miho standing by his locker. "Hello again, Miho!" he exclaimed.

She didn't answer right away, but stood fidgeting for a while longer. Bakura was about to ask if something had happened again, but before he could say anything, she quickly moved to stand next to him and stood as tall as she could to kiss him on the cheek. "Um…Happy Valentine's Day, Bakura-kun," she mumbled, and ran away as quickly as she could through the crowded hallway.

Bakura was in shock to say the least, but he still was attentive enough to hear other familiar voices in the same hall. Snapping out of it, he quickly determined who it was: Joey, Tristan, and Duke. He could also make out Serenity telling them to stop. There was no way he was getting into that argument.

Shaking his head, he escaped the building and walked the rest of the way to his home. Sitting down at his desk, he took out the homework from Calculus and tried for a few minutes to find the solutions to one of the matrices he had been given. Finally, he got up and went to his backpack, digging for what his mind and stomach really wanted and bit into one of the cream puffs before starting the problem over.

--

A/N: Sorry! I was in a sappy mood, and this just sorta sprang to mind. And since it wouldn't leave me alone, I decided to finally write it down. I think this is my first attempt at mush…please tell me if it's okay or not. Also, I know Miho doesn't appear in the dub, but I really didn't want to use the sub names. I'm sorry if this bothers anyone…


End file.
